Medicare has settled a whistleblower fraud claim with Melbourne International Medicine Associates (MIMA) of Brevard County, Florida. MIMA will pay $12 million to settle a lawsuit alleging hidden schemes to defraud Medicare and TRICARE with regard to its radiation oncology treatment services.
Two Atlanta-based law firms, Finch McCranie, LLP and Simpson Law Firm, LLC, lead the lawsuit on behalf of a MIMA whistleblower. The U.S. Department of Justice subsequently joined the lawsuit and filed its own complaint, contending that MIMA submitted millions of dollars of claims for radiation oncology services that were provided without required physician supervision, were never provided at all, or were otherwise improper, and sought to hide the fraud through “sham” practices.
“Health care fraud is incompatible with patient safety," said Michael A. Sullivan, attorney with Finch McCranie, LLP in a company press release. “These doctors were paid for personally supervising radiation treatments for cancer patients, but did not provide the supervision that they gave the appearance of providing.”
Under the Federal government’s whistleblower law, the whistleblower who brought the case to light is expected to receive 22 percent of the settlement, or $2,640,000.
In its own press statement, MIMA said that the settlement was not an admission of guilt, but had settled the matter “rather than sustain lengthy, costly, complex litigation.”
Visit Finch McCranie and MIMA for their full statements.
